Currycomb



(NoMogieL) 0. E. BALLAIN.

GURRYGOMB. 'No. 566,124. v Patented Aug, 18, 1896.

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//I I a l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. BALLAIN, OF EMERSON, IOWA.

CURRYCOMB.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 566,124, dated August 18, 1896. Application filed April 15, 1895. erialNo. 545,748. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E; BALLAIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Emerson, in the county of Mills and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Currycomb, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in currycombs.

The object of the present invention is to simplify and improve the construction of currycombs, and to provide a novel'form of cleaner which shall more efficiently and thoroughly remove dirt, hair, due, from the teeth of the comb.

A further object of the invention is to provide said cleaner with novel means whereby the same is adapted to be operated for the purpose of cleaning the comb as above noted.

To accomplish the objects above mentioned, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and details of arrangement, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the drawings, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete currycomb constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the comb, showing the relative arrangement of the toothed plates and the cleaner-plates. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective .View of one of the cleaner plates or sections.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a suitable handle provided with a forked shank 2, to which is riveted the back 3 of the comb. The back 3 is made of thin sheet-steel or other metal, is substantially square, and provided at front and rear with right-angled bends 4, toothed, as indicated, to form two of aseries of toothedplates. A pair of U-shaped plates 5 are also provided with teeth along their edges, as indicated, and are riveted as to their central portions to the back 3, and also to the forked shank of the handle. These 'U shaped toothed plates are interposed between the bent portions 4: of the back in such manner that their toothed edges shall be about equidistant from each other and from said portions 4:.

An open wire frame 6 extends around and embraces said toothed plates, being provided at its central portion at the advanced end of the comb with a downward extension or footpiece 7, having a ball or knob 8 at the upper end thereof, said extension or foot-piece working through an eye or guide 9, having an inwardly-extending shank, by means of which the same is adapted to be riveted to the back of the comb, as shown inFig. 2. The terminals of this open wire frame are coiled, as indicated at 10, anddisposed around the opposite ends of a cross-bar or support 11, riveted or otherwise secured to the forked shank of the handle to which the back of the comb is secured. After having formed the coils 10, the terminals of the wire are bent in such manner as to adapt them to pass above the back of the comb at the rear end thereof, as shown. By means of this construction it will be apparent that the wire frame will be normally held against the back of the comb, as indicated in Fig. 1.

A series of transversely-extendingcleanerplates 12 are arranged upon the open wire frame described, each of said plates being approximately U-shaped in cross-section or provided with diverging side flanges, as indicated. At either end each plate is provided with laterally-extending portions 13,;which are bent or looped around the side rails or portions of the open wire frame for holding said plates in position relatively thereto. The cleaner-plates 12 are preferably made of thin sheet-steel, and the side flanges thereof are given a sufficient flare or inclination to bear snugly against the side faces of the toothed plates, as clearly shown in the drawings.

14 designates a supplemental fiat spring which assists the coils 10 in their work.

In operation the cleaner device is operated by striking the knob or ball at the upper end of the extension or foot-piece 7 against a wall or other convenient object, thereby vibrating the wire frame 6 against the action of the spring-coils 10 and causing the flaring side flanges of the cleaner-plates to slide against the side faces of the toothed bars and pass the teeth thereof, thereby scraping off any dirt or hair, &c. that may have accumulated. The spring cleaner-plates Will accommodate themselves readily to the toothed plates in the vibration of the wire frame and will perform the work for which they are intended in a reliable and efficient manner.

The tension of the spring-coils'which actuate the wire frame may of course be regulated according to the wishes of the manufacturer or user by increasing or diminishing the number of coils in the Wire or by using wire of greater or less gage.

It will also be apparent that various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

1. In a currycomb, the combination with the back carrying a series of parallel toothed plates or bars, and the handle having a rigid cross-bar, of a cleaner-frame formed from a single wire blank bent to form an open rectan gular frame extending around and including all of said toothed bars or plates and having its terminals coiled around said crossbar and its-extremities in engagement with the back, and a series of self-adjusting cleanerplates slidingly mounted on the cleaner-frame and extending between the toothed bars or plates against which they bear with a springpressure, substantially as described.

2. In a currycomb, the combination with the back, and a handle projecting from one end thereof, of a series of parallel toothed plates attached rigidly to the back and ex tending at right angles to the plane of the handle, a cleaner-frame extending around the toothed plates and pivoted at the handle end of the back, a post carried by the cleanerframe at its swinging end and projecting above the upper side of the back and also formed with a headed end, and a leaf-spring secured to the back and having its free end slotted to straddle said post and exert its tension against the head thereof for the purpose of upholding the cleaner-frame, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES E. BALLAIN.

Vitnesses:

B. P. GRIFFITH, E. M. COPPAGE. 

